When Tim Vasquez was looking for his first job, he was ready to do anything as long as it involved working in the San Angelo police building.

"My dad started with the department in 1974, when I was 4 years old. I grew up in the Police Department," he said.

The first job he applied for was to become a custodian. He didn't get it.

"I just wanted to work in that building with all the people I knew," he said.

Now San Angelo's first Hispanic police chief — and its youngest — Vasquez is an example of his own philosophy regarding the keys to success: "Having the desire in your heart and knowing you can accomplish something if you work hard enough, you can accomplish things people tell you are not possible."

He did get a job in that building — he went to work as a dispatcher at 19, working with his father for six years. He became an officer as soon as he met the age requirements, going on to work patrol, criminal investigations, community services and dog handling, working his way up to unit supervisor. He completed college, graduating from Mountain State University in West Virginia.

Developing pride in the department and a sense of connection with the community led him to the idea that he might lead the department.

"It came after the opportunity to work in community services and teaching gang resistance to seventh-graders," he said. "That contact with teachers and parents got me excited about what law enforcement could do in the community."

Vasquez ran for chief in 2004 at age 34 and won; he was re-elected in 2008, winning without a runoff against five candidates who made up one of the strongest fields ever seen in a San Angelo police chief race.

At the time, he said, there had never been a Hispanic person in the Police Department administration. "I only realized that when someone pointed it out to me after the election," he said. "It wasn't something that stuck out in my mind."

His ethnicity was neither an advantage nor an obstacle, Vasquez said. "I don't think race was a major issue," he said, although isolated incidents reminded him that not everyone in the community backed him.

"I did come across people going door to door during the campaign who were very frank that they wouldn't vote for me because I was Hispanic," he said.

Asked about next year, he said: "I will run again. I don't feel like I'm done with what I'm trying to accomplish with the department."

His election ambitions are tied up with his vision for the future. "In the department I would like to further grasp the concept of problem-oriented and community-oriented policing," he said.

He imagines a community service officer for each of the city's six sectors, he imagines a daily crime prevention and crime report going out through social media, daily information particular to each area of town. "To be able to say, 'There were three auto burglaries in your area last night' and ask for help from citizens, that's where I see the future," he said.

Vasquez said he wants a prosperous future for San Angelo, with downtown as a major tourist destination and an attractive place for businesses, and a continuing downward trend in crime — the Uniform Crime Report for the city has shown an overall decline of 36 percent in recent years, and he wants to oversee the kind of continued safety on the streets that's "only possible with a community that's got the message and is participating."

Being both a police officer and a political figure has taught Vasquez hard lessons.

"I'm a people pleaser, and when I was first elected, it was difficult for me to accept that I couldn't make everyone happy," he said when asked about lessons learned.

Now, he said: "If I can go home every day and be proud of what I've done, I'll be OK. I just stay focused on the betterment of the department."

Trying to make the community better sometimes requires unpopular decisions, he said. "For example, it may not be popular to set up a driver's license checkpoint at a time when people are going to work, but when we issue citations and take people off the street, those actions have a positive effect," he said.

Those positive effects, for police, are sometimes the long-term result of an arrest or some other unpleasant encounter and provide some of the most memorable moments.

Vasquez recalls encountering a man while walking downtown who asked, "Do you remember me?" He did — they'd gotten into a scuffle after a traffic stop, and a police dog had found drugs in his van.

"It changed my life," the man told him. "I needed that so much."

It's one of many such stories that could be told in the department.

"I tell my rookies at academy graduations to think about how you will be remembered at the end of your career," he said.

THE TIM VASQUEZ FILE

Name: Tim Vasquez

Age: 41

Birthplace: Columbus, Miss. (first three months, then moved to San Angelo)

Profession: Law enforcement officer, San Angelo chief of police

Family: Wife Charity, daughters Mia and Madeline

Biggest influence: My mom ("Do your best every time or don't do it all — she had a very strong work ethic.")

One piece of advice: If your heart's in the right place and your mind's in the right place and you have a strong enough desire, you can accomplish anything.